It Started With A Kiss
by BLAHBLAHXO
Summary: The sequel to The Strangest Love - highly recommed reading that one first. Set six years after their life at Hogwarts, Hermione and Draco are still strong. Like every relationship, however, there is bumps and twists. Is there an suspected gift? Find out.
1. Chapter 1

Draco Malfoy

**So here it is. The sequel to The Strangest Love! If you've never read that, you'll need to go and read it before you read this. It can be read alone, but you won't understand some of the things I've mentioned, and it might confuse ****you. Um…don't expect updates regularly… I start school soon, I have one chapter already wrote, am writing next now… Buh-bye.**

Draco Malfoy. What would you think if you heard that name in conversation? Snob? Pure-blood extraordinare? Well, most things about Draco never changed. His hair – still gelled back as always; his looks – still sharp; and his humour was the same. His personality contrasted greatly, though, to what it used to be. People say you can never change a person, but Hermione Jean Granger did.

It had been six years since Hogwarts. Six years since Hermione and Draco had first kissed. They were still together. They'd stuck through everything together. Harry and Ron had been the main problem, but after they realised nothing they did or said would change Hermione's mind, they backed off a little bit and learned to accept Draco and treat him with some respect. It had been harder for Ron due to the fact that his entire family had been a victim of the Malfoys' insults at some point. They'd also had to fight the Slytherins off when they realised Draco's relationship to Hermione wasn't a hoax to embarrass her or to make her look a fool for thinking she even stood a chance with Draco.

The only Slytherin who had stood by Draco was Blaise, which – by default – made him an outcast among his Housemates. Draco was thankful for his loyal friend and they, too, were still close friends. Extremely close, to the point where Blaise had started to crash at Draco's four years ago and had never left. So Hermione and Draco were constantly pestered by a very irritating Blaise. Draco used to say it was like having a small child with them constantly, but soon stopped after Blaise started hitting him every time he said it.

If you were a friend of Draco's who had known him from a young age and were a follower of Voldemort, you'd never believe he'd lower himself to speak with a "Mudblood", never mind marry one. Draco had proven many people wrong and he'd given them proverbial heart attacks. He'd shocked people and fallen out with many of his old friends. His mother, after everything had been explained , was happy for her son and glad that he'd found someone like Hermione, someone who'd forgive all Draco's sins and not judge him for how he might have treated her when he was under his fathers' influence. Narcissa was also excited about the fact that in less than four weeks her little boy was going marry the woman he loved and she, Narcissa, would hopefully be made a grandmother. God can only hope, eh?

Draco Malfoy had proposed to Hermione Granger! Just what was the world coming to? Gosh. Never did anyone in the Wizarding world think they'd see the day those two were joined in matrimony and actually happy about it, and with neither of them under the Imperious Curse, so they must have agreed to it. Well, the Wizarding world was in shock. It had been over a year since their engagement, and everyone was used to it now. People didn't stare when they walked down the streets hand in hand, or when they were together constantly. Life, to our couple, was complete bliss.

Draco was on his way to meet his mother and fiancée. He'd just got out of work – he didn't need to work, but it was something to help pass the time and stop him sitting there staring at a clock and trying to work out exactly how many hours, minutes, and seconds were left before Hermione took his last name. They'd never actually talked about whether she would take his name; he knew she was rather independent but he'd assumed she'd take it – it was tradition, after all. Although she had told him a few years back that "traditions were made to be broken". So Draco wasn't too sure what was going to happen. He'd get his mother to have a word with Hermione; she seemed to like his mother a lot, so Narcissa might have more luck with her than Draco would himself.

His mother had moved out of the manor after the last war, the one in which everyone was saved. Damn Scar-Head. He had to be the hero! In all honesty Draco was glad Harry had won, though. It meant everyone was finally safe. Well, the Death Eaters weren't, but who cared about them? It had been a struggle to free his mother, as she was found with the Death Eaters, but they'd managed it, and she was finally safe as well. She now lived in a small house. Well, small for her. It had enough bedrooms for any possible grandchildren, and for her son to stay the night before the wedding. She kept throwing out hints that she wanted a grandchild. She was adamant about the fact that she was going to get on, and Draco knew his duty. Damn, his mother was probably trying to persuade Hermione to get pregnant right now!

He reached the house and smiled. Narcissa and Hermione were sitting in the lounge; he could see them through the window. He approached the front door, not wanting to seem like a stalker or anything, and knocked lightly before pushing the door open.

Hermione and Narcissa's heads perked up when they heard the door open, and they both turned expectantly towards Draco. They knew who it was, and it was about time he appeared; they needed his help with the wedding details. Hermione was damned if Draco thought Narcissa and she would be doing all the work. He had jobs to do, and he would do them if Hermione had anything to say about it – and she had a lot to say. Both women smiled as Draco walked into the lounge and sat down next to Hermione, placing his arm around her back.

"How are the plans coming along?" he asked, glancing over at his mother.

"Fine," Narcissa replied, before her eyes narrowed. "I believe, son, that you have some jobs you need to do."

Draco frowned and looked at Hermione, who nodded her agreement. "What jobs?" he asked slowly.

"Draco!" It was Hermione this time. "Are you seriously telling me you've forgotten the jobs we gave you just last week?"

Draco nodded slowly, causing Narcissa to roll her eyes. "He's hopeless," she informed Hermione before turning back to her son. Sometimes she wondered about him. No wonder he'd always been below Hermione, grade-wise. "You were supposed to pick a best man, choose what design you like the most for the invitations – although Hermione gets the final say – you had to help pick the venue, and you had to arrange who was leaving the house the night before and who's staying with you both to help you."

Draco remembered. Damn, he'd forgot all those jobs! But he – being a Slytherin at heart – lied, and quickly. "Oh…oh! Those jobs?" He smiled at his mother. "Blaise is best man, Hermione can pick the design – it is her day, after all. As to the venue, you two know what's best, and I thought you'd prefer to pick that. As long as I marry Hermione I wouldn't care if we had the service in the local sewer."

Hermione and Narcissa looked at each other again and Hermione frowned. "I spoke to Blaise yesterday and he said nothing about you asking him to be best man. In fact, he said he wasn't sure who it was going to be," Hermione told Draco, a small quirk to her eyebrow.

_Damn!_ Draco thought. Stupid Blaise; he always ruined all of Draco's lies and got Draco in trouble.

"He's the best man, I just never told him that part of it," Draco told them with a shrug, making Hermione roll her eyes.

"You must be losing your lying skills in your old age, 'cause we know that was a lie," she told him. Narcissa nodded animatedly in the background.

"Hey! You're older than me!" Draco said, acting as if he was offended by the word "old".

Hermione rolled her eyes again, although there was a slight smile on her lips. Her gaze returned to the papers in front of her and she started to arrange them back into a small file.

"I'm going to shoot off now, Cissy, but I'll come back tomorrow if that's okay?" Hermione asked, standing up and pulling Draco up with her.

"That's fine, dear," Narcissa replied. She picked up the file and placed it on a shelf next to her chair.

Draco walked to his mother and gave her a hug. It was nice seeing her so happy – much happier than when she'd been living with Lucius, anyway. Stepping back to where Hermione stood, he took her hand and smiled goodbye to his mother before leading Hermione out of the house. Hermione removed her hand from Draco's and walked towards her car. She loved driving and their house wasn't that close to Narcissa's. Hermione usually dropped Draco off at work, then came straight to Narcissa's. It was like a routine.

She stepped into her car and waited for Draco to get in. He was still exchanging good-byes with his mother. He finally opened the passenger door and entered the car, and he put his belt on as soon as the door was shut. It wasn't that he didn't trust Hermione's driving, but he knew she was badly prone to road rage, and her driving reflected this fact when anyone angered her. Hermione smiled at him before pulling her own belt around her and clipping it in to the buckle. She started the car and it set off with a soft hum_._

The ride home went without a hitch, unless you count Hermione sticking her head out of the window and screaming abuse at drivers who overtook her or pulled out on her. She wasn't usually one to give people abuse, but when she was on the road she got annoyed easily. Draco was glad Muggles had invented seatbelts, because from the number of times Hermione felt it necessary to hit her brakes when someone was right on her tail, Draco was sure he'd have gone flying out the window the first time around. Still and all, Hermione was a good driver when she wanted to be.

They arrived at their home as twilight was setting in. The sun was just setting, and the moon was visible above the horizon. Draco climbed out of the car and opened their front door. The house was dark but warm. Hermione followed him in and flicked on the light. She placed the car keys down, hung her jacket up, kicked off her shoes, and sat down on the sofa, the remote already in her hand. Draco honestly wondered how she did it all so fast. Sure, she was a girl and could apparently multi-task, but that was just a myth, right? Girls couldn't really do five different things at once, could they? Well, he knew they could – it was just unfair. Guys only had enough brain power to do one job at a time, and here were women doing double that in less time as well.

Draco sat down next to Hermione and pulled him against him so she was leaning on his side, with his arm around her. He liked just being able to sit like this; the television was usually just background nose for them. Hermione pressed a button on the remote and the screen was filled with colour. It was an old sitcom, one Draco had never watched but Hermione had seen countless times.

This was their life; it was the same routine day after day, one Hermione hoped would break after they got married. Not that she didn't like spending time with Draco, but they always did the same thing; there was never any element of surprise in their lives. Hermione always knew what they were going to do as soon as they got home. She decided right then and there that she was going to make that change. She was going to make sure they did something different tomorrow night and not keep to the same old stuff. She snuggled farther into Draco's side and closed her eyes, thinking of something to plan that both she and Draco would like. That could prove difficult. They were very different people. Draco – Hermione thought – was happy with their routine, where she was not.

But Hermione thought wrong. Draco wasn't exactly content with the routine either. He wanted to do something for Hermione but he thought she was happy as they were, and he never tried to change it. After all, if she liked it, then he wanted her to be happy. He decided, though, that he would plan something for the weekend. They were on Thursday now and to Draco, Saturday night was the perfect time for their "date", as he was going to call it. Hermione wasn't going to know about any of this; it would be perfect.

He, too, closed his eyes and began to mentally plan everything he wanted to do with her. He really wanted to surprise her. He wasn't sure she wanted to do the same thing every night, over and over again, but he knew he didn't – and he was sure she wouldn't mind him planning something for them. It had to be good, something she'd remember. Sure, they'd been on lots of dates in the past six years; but it was when they'd got engaged that the routines started to set in, and everything went the same way for them.


	2. Chapter 2

Sometime during their planning, they both had ended up falling asleep

**A/N: A little over due I know, I'm sorry. I've been kind of busy really. I have tons of homework to do, and I'm also writing my own book, which if it doesn't get published then it will be probably put up on here in the misc writing. xD Enjoy the chapter, I don't know when the next one is going to be out. **

Sometime during their planning they both ended up falling asleep. Even though they might not show it, what with preparing everything for their wedding and all the planning and decisions that had to be made, life just now was actually very stressful. They'd not been sleeping that much each night, with Hermione sitting up way into the night writing out her plans and Draco staying up and trying to coax her to go to bed. They were both waking early, too, and it was finally catching up with them. The television was still on and so was the light; they'd slept through it all, something Hermione had never been able to really do before. She couldn't sleep if there was any light in the room; she had to have the room dark. She found it hard to go to bed early in the summer.

Draco awoke when the sunlight shone in his eyes. Keeping that eye shut, to avoid the glare of the sun, he opened his other eye and looked at his surroundings. He wasn't comfortable enough to be in their bed, and the surface he lay on wasn't hard enough to be the bedroom floor – Draco knew from experience. He could hear the quiet whisper of the television and he knew that he was in the living room, on the sofa. He could feel Hermione next to him and woke up properly at that. She couldn't be comfortable with the way she lay, he knew. He shifted slightly and shook her shoulder, trying to gently wake her so that wouldn't be startled. The shake didn't do much except make Hermione shift position and mumble something Draco couldn't make out. He smiled slightly and shook her again. This got a little more reaction out of her; she at last opened her eyes and turned to look at Draco before closing them again. Draco was getting fed up; she wasn't usually this hard to wake. He looked at the clock and noticed he was already late for work. It didn't really matter, though; he was one of the managers so he didn't have to go in every day, he just did because he wanted to. He rose from the couch and stretched his stiff muscles before bending back down and lifting Hermione from the sofa and carrying her into the bedroom.

It was hot outside, so rather than cover her up with the thick blanket he just pulled a thin sheet over her. He walked across the room, pausing at the door and smiling at her sleeping form before stepping out and closing the door with a soft click behind him. He didn't see much point in going to work now, it was close to midday; and if he was honest, he was feeling quite lazy. Work would last without him for one day – well, technically three days, because of the weekend, but who cared? Draco decided to make some plans for their date whilst Hermione was asleep; that way she'd be none the wiser – although knowing his luck, Hermione would be able to figure out what he was doing before he even knew himself. Damn that clever witch. Draco's feet led him to the bathroom, and his mind was urging him to take a shower. He needed one after being squashed up on that small sofa for that amount of time. It wasn't exactly the biggest sofa they owned. He flicked on the water and waited for it to heat up before he stood under its spray.

He spent longer than he'd planned in the shower, but he'd managed to get a few ideas about what they could do on their date. Now it just remained to arrange it, but that shouldn't be too difficult, should it? Draco stepped out of the shower and pulled a towel around his waist. He wasn't sure if Hermione had woken up yet ,so he went to check. When he entered the bedroom he found that she wasn't in bed where he'd left her; he backtracked and found her in the kitchen, dressed and with a mug of coffee in her hand.

"Draco," she began, "Blaise phoned. He said he'd be 'home' tonight, and that he wasn't here last night because he woke up on a park bench this morning with a 'terrible hangover'. And I'm going to your mother's, do you want to come?"

Draco blinked; he hadn't even thought about Blaise or noticed he wasn't here – what a good friend he must be! Blaise didn't officially live with them, or wasn't supposed to be. Blaise did, however, think of the place as his home, and was usually here; he never seemed to leave them alone. If both Hermione and Draco were perfectly honest, they didn't care – they liked having him around. In many ways he was like a little child, and he needed guiding and looking after.

"Um…okay?" Draco said, although it was more of a question, "and nah, I don't think I could stand my mother for the rest of the day. I'll go down after work on Monday or something," he said slowly. With Hermione out of the house, now would be a perfect time to plan their date, without her there to hear him talking or see him planning things. She always seemed to know when he was up to something.

Hermione was secretly happy that Draco didn't want to go to his mother's; that way she could get Narcissa's opinion on what would be a good date and what she thought her son might like. Hermione wasn't too sure; after all, they hadn't done much dating. They were always content with just being with each other; dating was never really an important issue. It wasn't as if they'd rushed anything – they had been technically dating for five years before they got engaged and they'd remained strong throughout the whole time. People sometimes made comments that marriage could be the thing that would break them and some had been of the opinion that they shouldn't get married; because in all honesty, they insisted, who needed a piece of paper to say they loved someone? The people who expressed these views were usually Harry and Ron, but Hermione and Draco had learnt to ignore them.

Hermione smiled at Draco before picking her jacket up from where she'd placed it the night before, slipped into her shoes, and grabbed her car keys off the table. They didn't need to exchange words; they knew what the other was going to say. Instead, Hermione just waved and walked out of the door, heading towards her car. She was looking forward to spending some time with Narcissa today – not that she didn't usually. Narcissa was an extraordinary woman, full of wisdom. She'd never been allowed to express what she knew when she was with Lucius, but now there was nothing to stop her and she often shared things with Hermione. Sometimes, to Draco's dismay, what she shared was old baby pictures, especially ones of Draco as a toddler. Draco hated the fact that his mother still had those – they were embarrassing!

Draco waited until Hermione had driven off down the street before throwing himself down on the sofa and closing his eyes. He was tired again now, and he knew Hermione and his mother could talk for hours. He had time for a short nap. His breahing soon evened out, and he looked peaceful. He was asleep and could probably stay that way for a few hours.

Draco remained asleep until Blaise pushed his way into the house, with a lot of noise, and woke him up. If he hadn't been so tired, Draco would have been ready to kill Blaise. It was almost as if the man knew what he'd done. As soon as he saw Draco he grinned, then ran in to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Draco had to admit that Blaise did look a mess and he assumed it was because the man had spent a night on a park bench in the cold and awoken with a hangover, although Draco did wonder if that was the truth. He knew Blaise too well sometimes, and he knew his friend lied about what he did when he was ashamed or annoyed at himself.

_Blaise's POV_

Blaise came in and headed for the bathroom as soon as he saw that Draco was awake. He needed a shower anyway; his the "story" he'd told Hermione was true –he had spent the night on a park bench. He smelt bad generally, and of stale alcohol in particular; he knew Hermione couldn't stand the smell of alcohol and would probably force him into the shower anyway, so it was easier to take one by choice, not force.

Blaise had always had one problem: getting out of showers. But he hated to get into them. Once he was in he enjoyed them, and it usually took Draco shouting at him through the door to make him get out. Today, though, he got out without being prompted. He didn't feel like having a long shower. He needed something to eat, and he still had a headache. He wasn't ever drinking again…wait, yeah, he would. It was the most common thing anyone said: "I'm never drinking again"; yet they did. It was almost as if they never learnt. Blaise decided he would drink again, he just wouldn't drink as much as he had the previous night – and he wasn't going to sleep on a park bench again. Those things just weren't comfy, and he'd rather listen to Hermione shout at him and force him to sleep in the bath…again. Ha! That had been a funny night. Blaise remembered it happily. He'd walked mud all over Hermione's clean floor, so to teach him a lesson she'd made him have a bath, then sleep in the empty tub. She'd been nice enough to give him pyjamas, but mean enough to give Draco a camera and remind him how to use it. The pictures had been sent around to people and Blaise, to Hermione's dismay, loved the attention. There was just no teaching this boy.

Blaise walked into the lounge, his bare feet padding along the floor and a white towel wrapped around his waist. an He made a beeline for Draco. "Hey," he said lightly.

"What's up?" Draco asked, rolling his eyes. His friend only used that tone when he needed help.

"You know me too well," Blaise chuckled. "Do you have any Hang-Over potion left?"

"Yup…it'll cost you, though." Draco smirked.

"How much?"

"Not money."

"What ,then?"

"Your soul!" Draco made his voice sound rather scary and then grinned. "Nah, you have to cover for me when I need to leave the house without Hermione knowing exactly where I'm going."

"I think I can manage that."

"We've a deal, then." Draco stood and walked into his room. Blaise heard him move something around, then swear – quite loudly and repeatedly – before he obviously found what he was looking for, if the cry of "Aha! Got you!" was anything to go by.

"Here," Draco mumbled when he returned. He thrust a clear bottle into Blaise's hand and took his place on the sofa again. The TV was still on but no one was really paying any attention to it. It was once again there only for background noise, to stop them from completely being lost in their thoughts –although it was rare for Draco and Blaise to have thoughts that were worth getting lost in.

"Bondage!" Blaise squeaked out.

"_What?_"Draco practically screeched.

"Oh…sorry, did I say something?" Blaise asked, blinking. He looked dazed.

"You said 'bondage'."

"I did not!" Blaise looked offended. "You disguisting little boy! Wash your mouth out right now! With soap…and coffee! Now! Go! March it, mister!"

Draco blinked; he just blinked. Blaise was a weird child and there was no point trying to get through to him and make him see sense.

Hermione came back a few hours later, a small smile on her face. She saw Draco and Blaise curled up together on the sofa asleep and she turned the TV off. She was rather glad Blaise was home, and glad Draco was asleep. That way she could make more plans for tonight rather than having to go out and stand in the cold. outside some nightclub She'd arranged most of tonight's events while she was at Narcissa's house. She was about to leave the living room but she couldn't resist snapping a picture of Blaise and Draco on her cell phone. It was too good a photo to miss out on, and it was something to blackmail them with…although Blaise would probably want a copy to show people himself. That boy just never got embarrassed.

It took a couple of hours more and then everything was done and arranged, and now she just needed Draco up. There wasn't that long until their date, and he had to be ready.

"Draco, get up," Hermione said. She pulled Blaise off of him and then pulled on Draco's arm.

"Blaise, get lost," Draco moaned. "I will not partake in bondage conversations with you again."

Hermione raised one eyebrow towards Blaise, who just shrugged.

"I don't know what he's talking about…honestly!" Blaise said, his eyes moving side to side, not quite looking at Hermione.

"Draco! Up!" Hermione raised her voice slightly, hoping to disturb Draco from his sleep, whilst rolling her eyes at Blaise. She lightly shook Draco's arm again.

"Right," Draco mumbled, "I'm up…what's the matter?"

"Nothing," Hermione told him. "Go and have a shower, and dress nicely."

"Why?"

"We're going somewhere."

"Where?"

"A party."

"Whose?"

"_Just go!_"

"Aye aye, captain."

Draco stood and left, aiming for the shower, and Hermione turned to Blaise.

"You," she began, "are to stay indoors – and _no alcohol_."

"Yes, Hermione," Blaise said, rolling his eyes. He watched as Hermione walked off, probably to get ready.


	3. Chapter 3

Both Hermione and Draco were ready for their date

Both Hermione and Draco were ready for their date. Of course, Draco didn't know it was a date; he just thought it was someone's party. Nonetheless, he'd dressed up smartly. He wore a red shirt with black pants; it looked like part of a suit without the jacket. His shoes were a shiny, polished black, and his hair was combed and fell down the side of his face, slightly over his eyes. Hermione had on a red dress that stopped just before her knees. Her hair was held up in a clip, but still brushed over her neck, and her shoes were black flats. She and Draco matched, and Hermione was glad. They'd look out of place in a restaurant if Draco had worn something different.

She looked back at Blaise and raised an eyebrow. "Remember what I told you," she said. Blaise nodded and gave a slight roll of his eyes to show that he'd heard her. Although, since he was Blaise, Hermione couldn't be sure if he'd keep his promise or not. She'd know if he hadn't by the time she got in, but then it would more than likely be too late. Blaise tended to go bed when he'd done something he shouldn't—either that or lock himself in the bathroom.

Hermione turned back to Draco. "You look nice. Are you ready to leave?" She was going to drive them down; after all, she didn't plan on drinking.

"You look marvellous," Draco said with a small wink. "Let's go."

Hermione linked her fingers through Draco's and walked with him to the door, picking up her keys as she walked past the table. She waved goodbye to Blaise before shutting the door, one hand still locked in Draco's. She smiled at him as she led him down to the car. It was good to be doing something different, something he didn't know about. It was not only a surprise for him, it also got her out of the house. It was perfect.

She didn't want him to know where she was taking him, but it couldn't be helped; it wasn't like she could blindfold him until they arrived. Well…she could, but she wasn't going to. He'd guess anyway. He was clever when it was something he wanted to know, and with a blindfold on his curiosity would be piqued. It was best to avoid that.

Draco, as he always did upon entering the car, strapped his seatbelt on and adjusted it slightly so it didn't rub his neck. He was intrigued as to where they were going, but he wasn't going to ask. He was still thinking about what he could do for Hermione tomorrow night. It had to be something good. He could do a few things all in the same night, so that was helpful. He didn't want to be stuck doing the same thing all the time. Maybe he could plan one date every weekend, give them some "excitement", who knew? He didn't want Hermione to think being married to him meant she had to always stay at home, and they never got to do much anyway. He knew Hermione never said anything about it, but he couldn't help wonder if she was fed up with it.

Hermione kept her eyes on the road the whole way, not looking at Draco. She knew her own expression was excited and it might spark Draco's curiosity even more. After all, he wouldn't think she'd be that excited about going to a party—why would she be when she was getting married in less than a month? A party was nothing compared to that. She was excited about getting out of the house for once, and doing something with the person she loved.

She turned into a car park, and Draco looked out of the window to see where they were. He wondered why anyone would hold a party here. Or maybe he'd got the wrong idea about what kind of party it was to be. Maybe it was a dinner party, bcause they were currently parked outside a restaurant. He looked at Hermione, who turned and smiled brightly at him, her eyes lit up. He grinned back at her and unclipped his belt. She copied his movements and they both stepped out of the car.

Draco walked around to where Hermione stood and picked up her hand again. "Was this your plan?" he asked, wondering if she'd been having the same ideas he had.

"You could say that," she whispered with a shrug. "I just thought it'd do us good to get out of the house."

Draco didn't say anything; instead he grinned at Hermione and leaned down, kissing her softly. "You're amazing," he told her as he straightened back up. He was somewhat taller than Hermione; she wasn't short, but was not as tall as him. He liked being tall and Hermione liked being short; they matched in most ways, although they were nothing alike.

"We should go in," Hermione said, checking her wristwatch. Their reservation was in five minutes. Draco nodded and they walked inside, his hand still clasping hers. Hermione, being the one who had made the reservations, walked up to the hostess and gave her the name "Malfoy". Hermione had been a little bit sneaky. The Malfoy name wasn't feared any more, and when the Dark Lord went down it had lost most of respectability, but Draco had managed to build it back up. Hermione had gotten the reservation on short notice, and quickly, thanks to that last name. It wasn't like her to use his name to gain an advantage, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She wanted to give Draco a good date—he deserved it. He had been so good to her these last six years, and he'd proved that men can change.

They were led to their table and Draco pulled out Hermione's chair, relieving the maitre d' of that job. She smiled warmly at him and took the seat he offered her. Her eyes connected with his as he sat down opposite her. She'd never felt so much love for any one person as she did Draco. Harry and Ron –that was a different kind of love, and not quite as strong as what she felt for Draco although it was still quite strong for a friendship.

The maitre d' left them two menus and told them someone would be around to take their order shortly. They nodded and turned back to each other.

"How long have you had this planned?" Draco asked, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"Truthfully?" Hermione asked. "Since yesterday."

"Wow, you did it fast!"

"I know…I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this, and I was afraid I'd have to think of something else."

Draco didn't reply, he just smiled again. There was nothing to say; at least now he knew what he couldn't do on _his_ date. He couldn't take her for a meal, because Hermione had already done that for them. He felt a lot of respect and love for this woman. She'd obviously gone out of her way to make sure they got to do something special together, even when she was also busy with the wedding plans and keeping everyone involved with those happy. She didn't even seem to be under any stress; it was as if it all came naturally to her.

The maitre d' was true to his word; in just a few minutes a young man walked over to them with a confident smile on his face and asked to take their orders. Draco instantly disliked the man. He seemed too cocky and self-assured. And Draco definitely didn't like the way he smiled at Hermione. Draco's left hand reached across the table – making sure his ring was visible – and touched Hermione's hand, the pad of his finger running over the small ring perched on her finger. Hermione rolled her eyes at him, perfectly well aware of what he was doing and why he was doing it. Jeez, men were so possessive and paranoid!

The waiter seemed to get the message and looked Draco up and down as if evaluating him. Draco seriously wanted to get up and hit him, but he knew that would be a stupid thing to do, even for him. He didn't want to cause a scene, and it would spoil the date Hermione had spent time arranging; and he would really feel mean if he ruined it. It would be like slapping her in the face, only without the whole slapping-her part. Okay so maybe that didn't make much sense, but in Draco's head it did. At least at first.

They both ordered and the waiter walked off, but Draco saw him look back over his shoulder at Hermione. Draco felt he was going to get seriously annoyed with the fellow if he carried on. Couldn't he tell that Hermione wasn't interested in him and that they were happy together, or was it not really obvious? Draco wasn't sure, but if the waiter did one more thing wrong, tomorrow he was going to feel Draco's wrath. He obviously couldn't start a fight on their date, but he'd come back tomorrow – and drag Blaise with him as lookout to make sure no one saw his "interview" with the waiter.

"Don't over-think it, Draco." Hermione's voice broke through his thoughts. She was worried that he would cause a scene on their date. Besides, the waiter was only a teenager; he stood no chance, he was nothing compared to Draco. Draco was too paranoid, and if he thought Hermione would leave him for some barely-graduated teenager, he really didn't know her as well as well he thought he did.

Draco didn't say a word until their food came. If he was to be truthful, he was scared he might shout at Hermione, taking his anger out on her when she'd gone to all this trouble. In fact, Draco never liked to fighting with her; he always felt guilty afterwards and wished he could take his words back. Hermione had always forgiven him in the past, but sometimes he felt she was too forgiving. She'd forgiven every bad thing about him, which even he had to admit was a lot. He'd done a lot of bad things to her in the past, and she'd just waved them away. Seven years of torment had given way to eight years of bliss.

Sure, during the six years they'd argued, like every couple did, and even threatened to leave each other. There was added stress from other people, mainly the ones who still tried to worship Voldemort. The heir of Slytherin, these felt, should not be interested in a "lowly Gryffindor". But Draco and Hermione had managed to stay together through it all, and it seemed like nothing would be able to split them up now.

Hermione wound the napkin around her hands and watched Draco. He seemed to be calming down, but she couldn't tell; he wasn't speaking, which made her even more confused. Was he mad at her? She wasn't sure, but she was distracted from her thoughts when a different waiter brought over their food. She sighed, grateful that it wasn't the first one. That might just be enough to make Draco snap, and it was best for everyone if that didn't happen.

"Thank you," Draco said to the waiter as the dishes were placed in front of them, and Hermione was sure he wasn't just saying thank you for the food but also for not letting the other waiter come back.

The waiter nodded and walked back to the kitchen, leaving Draco and Hermione to eat in peace.

They didn't speak much during their meal, but Draco's hand took Hermione's over the table and held on to it through out the meal, leaving both of them with only one hand to eat and drink with. Secretly it made her smile, and she radiated love. Draco always knew how to make her feel happy, even with the smallest touches and looks.

She didn't want to leave the restaurant when they'd finished; she wasn't looking forward to going home and seeing whatver mess Blaise had made when they could be together quietly here, with no one checking up on them every couple of minutes. It was hard to get any alone-time in the house now, and with the wedding drawing near any relief from stress was welcome.

But finally they couldn't delay their departure any longer and called the waiter over with their bill. Hermione reached into her bag, but Draco gave her a Look and pulled his own money out of his pocket. Hermione smiled and pulled her hand back out...holding only the car keys. Draco took her hand, told the waiter to keep the change, and pulled her up out of her chair and out of the restaurant.

Hermione began to walk over to their car but Draco stopped her. When she looked back at him inquiringly, he pulled her against his chest.

"Thank you," he whispered, his lips brushing lightly over hers. "I love you,"

Hermione grinned at him and placed her hands on the back of his neck, pulling his head down. "I love you too," she whispered, before covering his lips with hers.


End file.
